Compression apparatus for casting steel ingots



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 G. W. BILLINGS.-

COMPRESSION APPARATUS FOR GAST-ING STEEL INGOTS.

No. 298,661. Patented May 13. 1884.

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(No Model.)

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Tartan fiTaTns GEORGE "W. BILLINGS,

FaTnn'T @rrrcn.

OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 298,661, dated May 13, 1884.

Application filed January 16, 1884.

fill) all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE WV. BILLINGS, of Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented an Improved Compression Apparatus for Casting Steel Ingots; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this application.

My present invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in apparatus for easting compressed ingots according to a process or method of making such ingots covered by the claims of another application for Letters Patent by me, No. 122,533, February 29, 1884, and adapted especially to the production of ingots of lengths greater than can be successfully and perfectly made cit-her in the oldfashion way or by the ,nse of such means as shown in my said other application.

My invention consists in the novel devices and combinations thereof which will be hereinafter more fully explained, and which will be particularly pointed out and specified in the claims of this application; and to enable those skilled in the art to understand and practice my invention, I will proceed to more fully describe it, referring by letters to the accompanying drawings, which make part of this specification, and in which I have shown my invention carried out in that form in which I have so far practically developed it.

In the several figures to which I shall hereinafter refer the same part will be found desig nated by the same letter of reference whenever the same part appears in more than one figure.

At Figures 1, 2, and 3 of the drawings is shown, respectively in side View, longitudinal section, and cross-section, a mold which I prefer tonse with my improved apparatus, and which I make of sections lengthwise, two or more of which may be secured and used together for the purpose of casting long ingots, (for shafts, &O.,) according to my novel process of compressing the hot steel within the mold immediately after pouring, while at Fig. 4. I have shown in sectional elevation one of these molds in connection with the compressing machinery, and at Fig. 5, in sectional elevation, the compressing-machine and the means (No model.)

only for holding the mold in place, (the mold being removed.)

At Fig. 4 I have shown the mold as composed of two such sections, as seen at Figs. 1, 2, and 3, and drawn on a smaller scale than the said three figures. As clearly illustrated, each section of this preferred construction of mold is composed of a sheet-metal cylinder (made in halves longitudinally) provided at its ends with annular rims K to permit attachment to the compressing-machine and to each other, and at its body portion with two (more or less) hoop-like braces, If, to give it strength. The lower one of the rims K has an inwardly-projecting flange-like portion, which supports a brick lining with which the shell is supplied, and the interior surface of this lining of brick is coated over with the usual or any suitable material which will with stand the action of the liquid metal with which the mold is to be filled in making the steel ingots, and which can be applied in a sort of plastic condition, and will then harden to form a smooth or even finish to the interior of the mold.

- I have devised a novel tool or contrivance for applying such coatings, which, however, constitutes the subject-matter of another application for Letters Patent by me, wherein it will be found fully described. Two or more of these sections having been properly prepared, interiorly, they are placed one on another, in line axially, and their end rims, K keyed, (to keep them in line,) as seen at K, Fig. 4., and are secured to their upper frame portion, J of the compressing-machine by means of lugs N, which project from their vertical tie-rod N and are secured by keys P (see Fig. 3) to the said frame J (See Figs. 4 and 5.) In the use of these sectional molds for casting long ingots, a resistant-plate, P, is placed and secured (in any desirable manner) over the top of the mold after the pouring in of the liquid metal, in order that the contents of the mold may be subjected to the same sort of compress ive operation hereinbefore explained; but in the use of such long molds with which it may be impractical to pour, in the same manner as in the use of molds not over five feet deep, (or long,) I adopt another plan of compressingmachine, the construction and operation of which are such that, while the machine serves to do the compressing after the filling of the mold, it also serves to render practical (by affording a descending bottom to the mold) the pouring of ingots of great length.

I I are two jack-screws, having their lower ends set in suitable lugs formed on the head of cylinder E, for the purpose of raising and lowering the mold-sections. Both of the moldsections are free to be moved vertically on their rods M, say, half an inch, as to the top section and one inch. as to the bottom section. By unscrewing the jackscrews both molds are at first allowed to-descend, (say half an inch,) so as to release the compression-plate P, and then the lower one only continues its descent, so as to become separated (say half an inch) at its top from the base of the upper mold, thus permitting the molds to be separately opened, if desired. By retightening or screwing clear up these jack-screws l, the molds are both forced into contact with each other, and the top mold is forced hard up against the compression-plate P. This construction of pressing-machine is clearly illustrated at Figs. 4 and 5, where E is a cylinder of a length preferably about equal to the length of the mold to be used in connection therewith, and provided with a long piston-rod, F (see Fig. 5,) the head or piston on the lower end of which fits and works properly within said cylinder Said piston-rod passes through the upper head of cylinder E as shown, and has its upper protruding end formed or provided with a head or piston that is adapted to pass easily into the bore or interior of the ingot-mold, arranged over and in line with it. At the upper and lower portions of the cylinder E are suitable ports, 1 and H for the ingress and egress of the water, steam, or other motive medium to be used to work the piston up and down within said cylinder, and immediately beneath said cylinder is located another cylinder of much greater diameter, on which the cylinderE rests, and to which are bolted or otherwise secured the lower ends of the four vertical frame or tie rods G that extend upwardly around the cylinder E and around the sectional ingot-mold, and the upper ends of which are secured in a top plate, E, (all as clearly illustrated,) beneath which latter is placed the resistant-plate or mold-cover, P, as shown. The lower and larger cylinder, A, is provided with a piston, 13 the lower end of which fits and works in said cylinder, and the upper end of which is, however, made small enough to fit and work within the bore of the upper (and smaller) cylinder, (See Fig. 5.) In the operation of this machine, the upper long cylinder (of small diameter) is designed to be used for lowering the piston-head that works in the mold during the pouring operation, (and to raise it again for reuse,) while the lower short cylinder of great diameter(and short stroke) is to be used to suddenly elevate said piston within the mold after the pouring operation,

for the purpose of suddenly compressing the ingot with great force. The lower cylinder, A, has the necessary ports, as shown, for the ingress and egress of the water, steam, or other actuating medium, to be used in like manner as in the case of any ordinary engine-cylinder.

In operating with the kind of apparatus shown at Figs. 4 and 5, I proceed as follows: Supposing the mold to have been properly prepared and secured in place in the position shown, (see Fig. 4,)water (or steam) is admitted at the lower port, H of cylinder E and the piston of said cylinder thereby raised until the head or upper end of rod F shall have been forced up inside of the ingot-mold to within a very short distance of the top. The pouring is now begun, and at the same time the water or steam motive power is allowed to enter at the upper port, 1 while it is permitted to exhaust through H and thus the piston of cylinder E is caused to descend, while the pouring continues, and at a speed preferably such that the stream of liquid steel being poured into the open top of the mold will always have to fall the same short distance from the ladle to the surface of the molten mass in the mold. Vhen the upper surface ofthe head on the top end of piston-rod shall have nearly or quite reached the lower end of the mold, and the latter shall have (then) become full of the molten metal, the resistantplate or cover (seen in section at P", Fig. 4) is quickly slid over the top of the mold, and, being located between the top of the mold and the top plate, E, of the frame of the machine, securely covers the mass of hot metal. The water or steam is then quickly let on to the lower cylinder, A in such manner as to act upon the lower surface of its piston B (the ports of the cylinder E being .now open to permit the ready exhaustion of its contents,) and the parts now being in the positions seen at Fig. 5, the sudden ascent of piston Bfivith the great force due to the action of the water or steam on the lower surface thereof, causes the piston-rod F and the head or plunger at the upper end thereof to be lifted, and the contents of the mold to be suddenly compressed with great force between the head of the piston-rod F and the resistanaplate or cover P, which is firmly held in place over the top of the mold. The pistons of both cylinders are now depressed quickly to clear the lower end of the mold of the compressing piston-head,

and either the mold,with its contents, is then removed and the ingot subsequently extricated therefrom, or the ingot is taken out of the mold by a separation of its parts sufficiently to permit the removal of the ingot.

It will be seen that in this mode of casting ingots with the apparatus shown (or with any contrivance involving the same principle of operation) I am enabled to pour ingots of any practicable length without difficulty, as the stream of liquid steel, in entering the mold, has never to fall but the minimum extent, (the bottom of the mold descending as the mold fills,) while at the same time I am enabled, the moment the mold shall have become filled, to compress the mass within the mold so as to produce long ingots without any piping or cavities. Should it be deemed expedient and desirable, or should occasion require it, an amount of metal lesstthan that requisite to make an ingot fully equal in length to the ca pacity of the mold may be molded and compressed into a perfect ingot.

Of course it will be understood that in all the cases in which I use any sort of compressing device adapted to enter into the mold the I 5 joint between the upper surface of said device and the walls of the mold is to be properly packed or stopped up sufficiently with the usual materials to prevent any escape of the liquid metal when it is poured in; and, if deemed desirable, supplemental bottom pieces or disk-like pieces of some suitable material may be placed within the mold, to rest 011 top of the compressing-head before the pouring of the liquid steel begins.

Having now so fully explained my invention that those skilled in the art can practice it, and wishing it to be understood that I do not limit my claims to, the precise details of construction shown and described, so long as the essential and novel features of structure and operation be followed, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

1. As an improvement in machinery or apparatus for casting compressed ingots of considerable length, the combination, with suitable means for securely holding in place along removable mold, of two cylinders arranged axially in line with the mold (when the latter is held in place) and secured together, one of the said cylinders having a piston that works always within the mold and acts directly on the contents thereof, and the other of said cylinders having a piston which acts directly upon the piston of the other cylinder, all substantially in the manner and for the purposes hereinbefore described.

2. As an improved contrivance for making compressed ingots of great length, a machine composed of two stationary cylinders arranged axially in line (one being of longer stroke than the other) together with their re spective pistons, and means for holding in proper relative position therewith an ingotmold, the construction and arrangement of 

